20 December 2018
(WEKU, Stu Johnson)
The preliminary November unemployment rate for Kentucky is a familiar figure. The 4.5 percent jobless figure for last month equals the rate in October and also a year ago in November.
University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research Associate Director Mike Clark says the statewide unemployment rate was at 4 percent last spring and has crept upward some since then. “The main thing to kind of look at is we’re still kind of at these overall low levels and we are continuing to see some employment growth, but we are seeing that employment growth slowing down a little bit in terms of the rate of growth,” said Clark.
In just one area, Clark says employment in professional and business services has been trending up over the past year, but adds it’s also been fairly volatile from month to month. He anticipates some slower economic growth. “I think what we’ll kind of see for 2019 is again we see some continued growth, slower than maybe the rate of growth we’ve seen in the past, and some greater uncertainty that I think could be an issue for the economy going into 2019,” explained Clark.
During 2018, Clark says the lowest statewide unemployment rate fell in the months of March and April at an even four percent. The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate for November was 3.7 percent.